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might be, must die because Ian, his squires, and Sir Peter were all condemned to death. |
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The keep at Clyro sat on the crest of the hill. It had no moat, although there was a declivity at the base of the walls where the ancient ditch of a ditch-and-dike fortress had once been. No moat meant no drawbridge or portcullis. The walls were closed with great gates, foot-thick planks bound together with iron crossbars and sealed by triple tree-trunks that lay in great iron hoops. Opposite these gates, at the foot of the last rise, Ian watched the battering ram being readied. On either side of the gate, archers stood ready on the walls, but they would be of little use. Ian could see the framework that would support a shield of toughened hide that would protect the men working the ram. The archers might pick off a man or two who showed themselves incautiously, but on the whole they would be ineffective. The catapults could not be trained so close against the walls. |
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"Geoffrey, I want two winches and wheels, with a framework that will reachoh, ten feet, beyond the walls. One this side of the gate, one that. We need also wood for fires and ten barrels of pitchif the keep holds so muchfive this side, five that. Set the fires at once. When there is a good bed of coals, the pitch is to be warmed over it until it begins to ooze. Have a caretell the men to have a great care. The barrels must be turned, and they must not grow too hot or they will burst. Pitch is not lightly removed. Remember my back." |
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That would do for the ram and the men who worked it. Ian moved on. There were already fires burning on the wall, heating cauldrons of oil to be poured down on the attackers. Ian climbed up and craned over the battlement. Because of the declivity, the ladders could not be set close against the wall. That would make the climbers a little more open to arrow-shots, but not much. It was difficult to aim at any acute angle through an arrow slit. More important, it would save them from being inun- |
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